CHARLES
,
DAVID
,
I
(
1762
-
1834
),
Calvinistic Methodist minister, and hymn-writer
;
b.
11 Oct. 1762
at
Pant-dwfn
,
Llanfihangel Abercowin, Carms.
, son of
Rees
and
JaelCharles
and brother of
ThomasCharles
(q.v.)
. He was apprenticed to a
flax-dresser
and
rope-maker
at
Carmarthen
, and spent some time in
Bristol
learning his craft. He learned by heart
EdwardYoung
's
Night Thoughts
while still a mere boy and was converted through reading the sermons of
RalphErskine
. Returning to
Carmarthen
to follow his trade, he m.
Sarah
, the daughter of
Samuel LeviPhillips
(q.v.)
, a
banker
(and a
Christianized Jew
) of
Haverfordwest
. He joined the
Methodist
congregation in
Water Street
, and was elected
elder
. He soon became one of the outstanding
Methodist leaders
in
South Wales
and took a prominent part in establishing the
Home Mission
and drawing up the
Cyffes Ffydd
(confession of faith of the denomination). He began to preach in
1808
and administered the sacrament of baptism before he was ordained in the first
Association for ordaining Methodist ministers
held at
Llandilo
in
1811
. He was one of the principal antagonists of the rule of
NathanielRowland
(q.v.)
in the
Methodist denomination
. In
1828
he had a
seizure
, and was an invalid for the rest of his life. He d.
2 Sept. 1834
and was buried in
Llangynnor
.

He was regarded as a
clear thinker
and an able
theologian
. His published sermons reveal an epigrammatic style and close-knit reasoning.
HughHughes
(
1790
-
1863
)
(q.v.), his son-in-law, published the following works by him:
Deg a Thri Ugain o Bregethau, ynghyd ag Ychydig Emynau
(thirty sermons and a few hymns) (
Chester
,
1840
); a volume of English
Sermons
, etc. (
London
,
1846
); and again
Pregethau
, etc. (
Wrexham
,
1860
). In
1879Detholion o Ysgrifeniadau
(a selection of his works) was published at
Wrexham
. His hymns were published in the small collections of the period, e.g.
Anthem y Saint… gan Evan Dafydd
(
Carmarthen
,
1807
);
Hymnau ar Amrywiol Achosion
(
Carmarthen
,
1823
), etc. His eminence as a
hymn writer
is assured, and his greatest hymns are to be found in all the Welsh hymnbooks.

Sources:

H. Hughes
,
Sermons by the late Rev. David Charles …
translated from the Welsh, with a memoir
, London,
1846
,
1846
;